Tainted
by statefarmsnake
Summary: Spleenk was caught in a horrible accident, and Lard Nar feels partially responsible for it. He's trying his best to make up for it, and... he discovers hidden feelings for Spleenk that he never felt he had before. Alongside watching Spleenk, Lard Nar slowly falls for him.
1. Chapter 1

Tainted

Lard Nar sat lazily at his chair as he played around with his fingers. It was clear that he was a little bored since it had been awhile since his last encounter with the Massive. He figured he would use the opportunity to recruit some new members, but that would require some persuasion or the rescuing of more people from irken prisons. And since their last encounter, that had only proven to get more difficult.

So here he was, sitting in his chair as he pondered on what his next move was going to be. He was just going to give up and return to his quarters, but then a small beeping sound started coming from Spleenk's console. "What is it?"

Spleenk looked at his screen. "We're approaching some kind of planet. It's nothing like I've seen before."

"Ixane, do an analysis. Now that I think about it, we could use some resources and we're far from any Vortian resource tanks. We might need to excavate something from here."

Ixana did as she was told before saying, "It is an uninhabited planet with several gases on the mainland."

"Anything that we can gather?" Lard Nar asked.

"There are some minerals that can be converted into fuel for the ship. There are also some other components that we can use to power certain subsystems."

Lard Nar nodded. "Then we should go down there."

"Wait!" one of the crew members exclaimed. "There is a thin layer of gas that is poisonous to you. You will need protection in order to filter it out."

Lard Nar hopped off of his chair. "Alright, I think I can handle that. Spleenk, let's do this together. Shloonk, you have control of the bridge. Make sure no one does anything stupid."

"Alright!" Shloonk yelled as he flew onto Lard Nar's chair with a silly grin on his face.

Spleenk went with Lard Nar off of the bridge. "Why did you want me to come with you?"

"I'll need help collecting some of the minerals," Lard Nar said. "You're one of the few people on this ship that I can trust enough to protect me in case something happens."

"Really?" Spleenk asked.

Lard Nar cleared his throat. "W-well, of course. We have known each other for a long time, far before the formation of the Resisty. It only makes sense that we have trust in each other."

Spleenk nodded his head. "I trust you, too."

Lard Nar looked around and noticed that there was no one else in the area. He smiled and said, "Thank you, Spleenk. I appreciate your help with the Resisty. It helps makes the boredom… and the failure bearable."

Spleenk didn't know how to respond to that, so he did what he normally did: give a silent smile. Lard Nar always knew what that meant.

The two of them went down the hallways and into the transport room. Lard Nar each grabbed a specific Vortian gas mask. They were definitely advanced with highly-technological filtering systems that made the user both comfortable and safe. Lard Nar actually helped with the designs at one point in the early process. He was proud of it. "Make sure it's secure. Don't want to start off with being poisoned."

Spleenk nodded and turned on the gas mask's personal communication system so that he and Lard Nar could talk. They then went onto the transporter before being teleported onto the planet. The planet was very dull in color. Everything was in a spectrum of browns, grey, and greens. The fog was apparent and doused everything in more green. This frightened Lard Nar a bit. He made sure that he was breathing in normal air rather than the putrid green gas.

"There should be a cave behind you," Ixane's voice said as they arrived on the planet. They could clearly hear Shloonk's voice cracking some joke in the background. Lard Nar nearly asked Ixana to tell Shloonk to be quiet, but he let it go.

Lard Nar grabbed a really sharp pick and handed it to Spleenk before giving himself a slightly smaller one. They then entered the cave.

"Take a right, then a left. There should be some rocks that glow a certain blue color."

Lard Nar and Spleenk did as instructed and eventually found the rocks. They were covered in the planet's dirt, but the glowing blue portions of it was apparent. He hadn't seen much of it before in his life, but it looked perfect for fuel. Lard Nar began to hack at one of the rocks while Spleenk hit another one.

Lard Nar looked at Spleenk as he mined away at the rocks. He did it so delicately that he hardly made much of a dent in it with only a few hits. "You can hit it harder, Spleenk."

Spleenk looked at Lard Nar for a second and nodded, "Oh… oh yes, Nar."

Lard Nar chuckled lightly to himself as he went back to his work. Spleenk was the only one who called him Nar. He was actually the only one who called him by ANY nickname. Lard Nar was actually a bit upset by being the captain of the Resisty, because in doing so, many of his crewmembers looked up to him as a leader, not as a friend. He didn't have a particular problem with that, but it also meant that he didn't develop any close relationships with anyone. He missed the close companionship.

But Spleenk managed to remind him. And Nar was happy about that.

"Am I doing it alright, Nar?"

Lard Nar quickly went out of his own thoughts and looked at Spleenk for a moment. His movements were now much harder and much faster, chipping away at the rock better. "That looks good. Just watch out for your face. Your pick is-"

Lard Nar was interrupted by a distinct shattering sound. Lard Nar had witnessed it happening and it made his heart practically leap out of his chest from agony. Spleenk's pick was now through his visor. All of the poisonous air around him was starting to seep in and Lard Nar could hear Spleenk begin to choke. "SPLEENK! Hold your breath!"

Lard Nar ran to Spleenk's side. It was too foggy to see what condition he was in, but he could definitely tell that Spleenk was beginning to wobble back and forth. Spleenk was in the beginning processes of passing out, and Lard Nar wasn't going to have that. He quickly grabbed Spleenk's hand and began dragging him out to the entrance of the cave. "Come on, Spleenk. You just have to stay up until we get out of this cave."

Spleenk responded, but it was something delusional. Lard Nar thought he said 'okay', but he wasn't sure. There was a lot of stumbling, and the way back seemed a lot longer than when they came in, but they both managed to get out when Spleenk was on his last limb. "Shloonk. Two to beam up to the Medical Bay, and make it quick! Spleenk has been exposed to the poisonous gas."

"Beaming up!" Shloonk said in his normal, yelling voice.

Lard Nar and Spleenk were teleported to the medical bay. Lard Nar quickly got him onto a bed and brought over a Vortian medic who quickly went to Spleenk's side to check on him. They took out the pick and quickly got Spleenk's gas mask off of him.

Lard Nar gasped as he saw Spleenk's condition. He was very red since he was almost devoid of oxygen and pieces of his face was bleeding. Either the pick got him or some of the glass sprayed all over him. He got to witness it all happen, but this was so much worse.

The medic then ripped off the top portion of Spleenk's uniform to find a similar redness throughout his body. Lard Nar quickly went to the doctor's side and asked him, "Is he going to be okay?"

"Captain, please. Now is not the time for questions," he said as he gathered some fluids and syringes. "I need to run diagnostics and find anti-poison medicine for Spleenk before he loses too much oxygen and the poison affects too much of his body."

"Just do it as quickly as possible," Lard Nar said. He pointed to Spleenk and said, "My best fr-… my second-in-command is laying in that bed with a terrible poison in him and I am partially responsible that this happened to him. I need to make CERTAIN that he gets better. Do you understand me?"

The doctor sighed as he stuck a syringe inside of Spleenk's arm and pushed. That alone already caused some of the redness to go away. "Captain Lard Nar, we have some of the finest medical technology in the span of several lightyears, and I know how to use all of it plus 47 other species' medical practices. I don't have a guarantee that I can cure him, but I'm 99.99% sure that I can."

Lard Nar calmed down a bit. "Oh, well… that's reassuring." He rubbed the back of his neck before gently placing a hand on Spleenk's right foot. "Just keep me updated as soon as anything changes."

"Yes, Captain."

Lard Nar took a deep breath as he let go of Spleenk. "Alright, thank you…. Sorry for lashing out at you. I'm sure you know what you're doing."

"Thank you, Captain," the doctor said.

"Just call me Lard Nar," he said as he left the medical bay. His heart was pounding out of his chest. Even though there had been a lot of dangerous missions between the Resisty and the irken empire, this was actually the worst of the casualties. No one had died so far since Lard Nar went along a policy of defensiveness so that no one got hurt too badly.

And now here he was, watching one of his best friends as he got terribly injured. Why did it have to be Spleenk?

Lard Nar wanted to go back to his quarters and simply wait out a message from the medic, but he knew that would only cause him pain. So he went to the bridge and ordered Shloonk off of his chair. He sat down.

"What happened, sir?" Ixane asked.

"Nothing important," Lard Nar said. "I want to be as far away from this planet as possible. Set the coordinates for the nearest Vortian resource hub. We aren't stopping anywhere else until we get there." His voice was very serious.

"Yes, sir," a few of the crewmembers said at the same time as they changed directions.

Lard Nar sighed. This was going to be a long trip. He didn't even have Spleenk to talk to anymore.

"Hey, Lard Nar!" Shloonk exclaimed. "_What's up?!_"

A _very_ long trip.


	2. Chapter 2

Tainted

Chapter 2

Lard Nar placed his hand on Spleenk's hand. The doctor suggested that Lard Nar should keep Spleenk company and tell him stories. He said that the positivity and companionship helps the recovery process go a lot more smoothly, and that was exactly what Lard Nar wanted.

"You found your goggles in the garbage?" Spleenk asked.

Lard Nar nodded his head. "They were necessary for any engineers and I so-happened to have lost my old pair as I was returning from work one day. I didn't plan to show up empty-handed, and there was a pair lying in one of the garbage chutes, so… I grabbed them."

Spleenk touched Lard Nar's goggles and noticed that there were a few dents in them that weren't visible upfront. "That's unlike you. You like good stuff."

Lard Nar shrugged. "I guess I couldn't get rid of them. They're my keepsake from the… old Vort."

Spleenk lowered his hand gently onto Lard Nar's cheek. The hand was cold and Lard Nar could tell that it was faintly shaking from Spleenk's current weak state. "Am I also a keepsake from the old Vort?"

Lard Nar smiled faintly, something he rarely did. The touch of Spleenk's hand, although cold, made him feel so much warmer. "Of course. One of my greatest friends and allies that helped assist me with the controls of my very first ship. I will always have memories of our time together, Spleenk."

"Me, too," Spleenk said.

Then they just waited there, staring at each other for several moments in sheer silence. Spleenk left his hand on Lard Nar's cheek and… Lard Nar took it as a cue to bring himself forward. Spleenk was slowly lifting his head towards Lard Nar's.

Though… faintly, Lard Nar could hear the beeping sound coming from Spleenk's heart monitor. It was getting louder and louder… and slower… and slower. Lard Nar tried his best to ignore it as he cherished the moment with Spleenk. But it only continued to grow louder until it filled the entire room…

One long beeping sound remained and Spleenk's head went straight back down onto the pillow. Lard Nar watched as if it was going in slow motion and when he realized what was happening, he pounded his fist on Spleenk's chest. "No! What do you think you're doing?!" A single tear fell down from his face as he pounded Spleenk's chest again. "You can't die, you stupid oaf. Spleenk, wake up. WAKE. UP." Lard Nar continued to pound on Spleenk's chest, consistently saying the words 'wake up' as if his will alone would suddenly bring Spleenk back to life. But… no amount of yelling and pounding brought Spleenk's heartbeat back.

"Lard Nar!" someone yelled. Lard Nar ignored it the first time and kept going.

"Lard Nar!" someone yelled again. This got his attention.

Everything faded to black and Lard Nar was suddenly in a different room. His head shot up and he yelled out a lot, both confused and scared. Where was he? What happened to Spleenk?

He looked for answers as he scanned the room. He let out a breath of relief when he saw the familiarity of his own bedroom. In his own bed. His heartbeat was still incredibly, so getting his bearings was difficult, but someone was there to help him.

"Lard Nar?" someone asked in a smaller, more gentle voice.

Lard Nar slowly turned his head and turned on one of the small lamps at his bedside. He looked upon the face of his 'visitor' and saw one of the younger nurses. She was also a Vortian, recently broken out of the Vortian prisons. Lard Nar remembered her name to be Liyana.

Lard Nar's heartbeat slowly went down and he finally asked, "What happened?"

"You fell asleep on the bridge and you started screaming," Liyana said. "We couldn't wake you no matter what we did, so we brought you back to your quarters." She gently rested her hand on Lard Nar's arm. "You must've had some terrible nightmares. The entire crew is frightened for you. They thought there was something seriously wrong with you."

Lard Nar shook his head. "I'm flattered that they would be caring for me, but I am not the one that they should be worrying about. One of our main crewmembers is currently in the medical bay, poisoned, and with severe facial injuries. That's more important than my screaming."

"It was actually more than screaming," Liyana said. "You actually… threw Shloonk across the room during one of your episodes."

Lard Nar sighed. "I'll have to apologize later. I have no recollection of doing so."

Liyana shook her head. "It is not your fault, Captain. You watched a close friend get badly injured. No one blames you for being upset."

"I assume they don't understand my affiliation with Spleenk," Lard Nar said.

"You two are very close, aren't you?" Liyana asked. She cleared her throat. "Oh, I apologize, Captain. I'm prying, aren't I?"

Lard Nar shook his head. "It's fine. Spleenk and I have a long history. It only makes sense that we're very close. Although I may not show it on the bridge or in front of everyone, but he is… my closest friend on this ship.

Liyana nodded. "That's good to know. Well… if it's any consolation, Spleenk is now stable and is currently resting right now. We as doctors can never make any guarantees, but it seems he'll recover and be back on the bridge in a few days."

Lard Nar blinked. That _was _good news. "Can I see him? I know he's asleep, but I'd like to see him for myself."

Liyana thought for a moment. "The doctors told me to keep you away from the medical bay until Spleenk has recovered, but I can sneak you in. You are the captain, after all."

"Good judgment," Lard Nar said. He got out of bed and followed Liyana through the ship. Everything was fairly quiet since everyone seemed to be in bed at that point. He wondered if Shloonk was running the bridge at the moment. He still wanted to apologize.

They turned a corner and eventually entered the Medical Bay. One of the doctors was sleeping on the far bed while Spleenk was more towards the center. Lard Nar slowly approached him and as he did so, he already noticed that Spleenk looked a bit greener than normal.

"The poison managed to pigment his skin," Liyana said. "But there is no harm in it. It'll simply dissipate."

"How's his face?" Lard Nar asked.

"A few cuts and scars from the glass pieces, but the pickaxe managed to miss him by a few centimeters. He was pretty lucky."

Lard Nar sat down at one of the nearby chairs and simply stared at Spleenk. It was nice to know that this was the actual Spleenk rather than the one haunting his dreams. Simply watching his stomach go up and down from his breathing reassured Lard Nar that Spleenk was okay. Lard Nar even thought of Spleenk as… at peace. "Do you know when he'll wake up?"

"A few hours," Liyana responded. "Though, I wouldn't recommend being here when he wakes up. He's going to be vomiting for a little while in order to do a proper detox."

"I want to be here," Lard Nar said. "I think he once told me that he wasn't comfortable around doctors. M-maybe he could use a friend."

Liyana blinked. "Yeah, that's fine. I will inform you as soon as he is giving us signs of waking up."

Lard Nar nodded. "Thank you, Liyana." He actually lied about Spleenk being uncomfortable around doctors. In reality, he was generally well-acquainted with them, even if his pain tolerance was relatively low. "I'll be on the bridge. No point in me going back to bed."

Liyana nodded. "We'll keep an eye on the bridge camera just in case you relapse."

Lard Nar chuckled a bit as he exited. "That'll be a one-time thing, I assure you." He went down the many hallways as he approached the bridge. He found himself turning back to look at the medical bay as he did so. Spleenk looked just fine, but he constantly thought back to his nightmare only a few minutes ago. It was so life-like and scary and that's why it made it seem so evidently real. He didn't want to lose Spleenk.

Lard Nar coughed, holding back a single tear as he stopped in his tracks.

As that happened, one of his crewmembers, one that he didn't quite recognize very well, passed by him. "Captain Lard Nar, are you alright?"

Lard Nar quickly twisted his head to see the crewmember. She was a bit younger than most of the people onboard. He remembered that she was incredibly gentle as well, as gentle as Liyana. "Wha-… o-oh, yeah. I'm alright. Don't worry about me."

She nodded. "I heard about what happened on the bridge. It's buzzing around the ship quickly. A lot of people are very worried about you right now."

Lard Nar blinked. "I find that a bit hard to believe."

She cocked her head to the side. "Why do you say that? Don't you think that your own crewmembers would be concerned when you start having a fit like you did?"

"Perhaps for themselves," Lard Nar mumbled to himself.

"Hm…" she whispered to herself. "Well, don't worry. I'm sure everything will be okay, Captain. Is there anything you would like me to do?"

Lard Nar thought for a moment, then shook his head. "Get some rest, I guess. We won't be doing any attacks or rescues or any of the sort for a few more days. We need to get this crew properly sorted and trained before doing anything."

"That's smart," she said, brightly. "Well, goodnight Captain Lard Nar." She left the area.

Lard Nar felt bad as she walked off. He hadn't even asked for her name, but felt that he didn't need it. He returned to going back to the bridge and thought about what she said. He thought that it was ridiculous that people would actually be concerned about him. Only just a couple of days ago, he was properly convinced that everyone viewed him as a captain. Though, he actually hoped that people saw him as something more.

But that mattered very little to him at the moment. He just wanted to see Spleenk recovered and back on his feet soon. That would be the first step before anything happened.

Lard Nar finally returned to the bridge. It was mostly empty except for some key people since everyone was in bed at the late hour. If space had a late hour. He walked to the center of the room and the few crewmembers turned their heads. The main navigator and the communications officer asked how Lard Nar was faring.

"I am doing fine," Lard Nar said. "Just keep your minds on Spleenk. He's the one going through the majority of pain."

They nodded in response before returning to their posts.

Lard Nar turned around and saw Shloonktapooxis hovering over the captain's chair. Shloonk might have not been the smartest person on the ship, but Lard Nar always respected him for how dedicated he was. "You don't have to stay here anymore, Shloonk. I can take it from here."

"Alright!" Shloonk said, as he floated away from the chair.

Lard Nar turned to him and said, "I heard that I… threw you. I am very sorry, Shloonk. You know that I would never do that to you if I was awake."

Shloonk's smile went even brighter. "It was actually kinda awesome, heh. I went to the far end of the room. I didn't know that you were so strong, Lard Nar."

Lard Nar looked down at his scrawny arms. It was true, Vortians were actually stronger than they looked, but he had no idea that he would be able to overcome someone like Shloonk. "Well, even so. I am sorry."

"Oh, it's alright, Lard Nar. Good night, everybody!" People waved at Shloonk as he left the bridge.

Lard Nar sighed. He didn't want to be in such a position.

"What's our orders, captain?" the navigator, Lyric, asked.

"Resume our course to the nearest Vortian storage unit then go get some rest," Lard Nar said. "I'll watch the bridge for a while. Everyone knows that I should take a break from sleeping anyways."

"Yes, sir."


End file.
